Enews116 A short visit to Poznan University of Medical Sciences
出自KMU e-News
高雄醫學大學e快報 第116期 國際事務中心專題
A short visit to Poznan University of Medical Sciences
國際事務中心 周世華組長
From June 24 to July 11, the post baccalaureate students of Kaohsiung Medical University 'KMU' visited Poznan University of Medical Science 'PUMS'; this is the first such trip since the brother-sister school agreement was first established between the two universities.
In order to prepare for this upcoming exchange, PUMS has undergone great efforts and organisation to make the campus a hospitable place. The dorms were made available to the students free of any charge, while the professors were welcome to use the guest rooms, conveniently within the same building. Within the dorms, the students were also able to prepare their own meals, instead of having to 'endure' the dishes of Poland for two weeks on end.
As for the classes, the students from KMU were treated to lectures – especially arranged by PUMS – on immunology, histology and pathology. As it was currently the summer holiday at the campus and many lecturers were already on vacation, we are deeply grateful that they would give up their own time to take the workshops. In addition to this, two talks were provided to the students on the history of English teaching at PUMS, and also the current state of affairs with problem based learning 'PBL'. The talks were delivered by the founder of the English teaching curriculum, and the former rector (director) respectively (the rector had been present at the international PBL conference held in Kaohsiung, from the fourth to the sixth of July).
On the Saturday, the school officials arranged for us tours and tour guides to take us southward to Gniesno, and nearby historical sites and museums. The tour guides familiarized us with Poland's extensive history, arts and religion, so we gained a better understanding of the country. From these arrangements it is apparent that a great amount of effort on behalf of PUMS has gone into preparation for our visit.
PUMS, unlike KMU, has many campuses. With great interest we toured the extensive facilities, including one of the surgical departments, the cardiology, anaesthesiology, and oncology departments, and also the intensive care unit. The oncology department was of particular interest as it was situated in a building of its own, with an operating theatre equipped with a irradiation accelerator, one of which KMU has yet to obtain.
Through this visit to PUMS, the following points I would like to specifically mention:
- From these little details, it is obvious that PUMS had been carefully anticipating our arrival. I hope that in the future, such connections will be maintained, and that the two universities will be able to closely, academically interact with one another.
- Professor exchanges – in actual fact, at the start of June, two Polish professors came to KMU for a two week session at the campus. In the future, after the organisation has been finalized, it will be possible for professors from KMU to fly to Poland for short workshops at PUMS. However, there is still much discussion on which topics will be touched upon. During the last visit, some of the topics discussed at PUMS had already been studied extensively at KMU; if possible, could these clashes be kept to a minimum.
- In reality, PBL has to yet to be officially integrated into the PUMS academic curriculum; at the moment, only anaesthesiology is taught through PBL, using the Swedish form (7 step form). PUMS is currently arranging trips to Sweden to gain more extensive knowledge of the PBL method there. In contrast, KMU has integrated the Hawaiian PBL method; the future professor and student exchanges have made it possible for comparisons to be made between the two styles. It would be interesting to see the differences and similarities.
- While attending classes at PUMS, it is notable that the level of English used there is significantly higher than the level here at KMU. As this is one of our weak points, I hope this can be rectified in the future.
- The exams are marked at a very high standard at PUMS, with high expectations for the students. Should you fail an exam, you can expect for your enrolment for the course to be terminated. In contrast, KMU is rather lax in its examination standards, as it is much easier, comparatively, to pass and graduate. As medicine is a profession that deals closely with human life, graduates naturally should be of particular criterion.
- Medical records at PUMS are written in Polish. Compared to KMU, where the medical records are written up in English, this point is much more appealing for potential international students.
- The National Institute of Science and the Foundation for Polish Science have been collaborating. KMU could potentially attract Polish researchers to the campus, even up to a national standard, and in doing this strengthen our reputation of research ability.
- I hope that, with the arrangements with PUMS as an example, there will be other brother-sister school arrangements with other universities in Europe.
Shah-Hwa Chou
2008-8-18
